


30 Day BenKaru Challenge -- Day 23, Swapped Careers

by tinynerdlet



Series: 30 Day BenKaru Challenge [23]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 00:43:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7992277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinynerdlet/pseuds/tinynerdlet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a perfectly normal morning. Hikaru woke, took Demora out for breakfast, and everything seemed to be in order. Yet, something was off. He couldn't explain it but there was something about the situation that was different. He didn't like it. Initially he brushed the feeling aside. But when a silver eyed man approached and claimed he was a friend of Ben's, the reason for the feeling became clear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> [See Story On Tumblr](http://spoopynerdlet.tumblr.com/post/149920868668/day-23-of-benkaru-swapped-careers)

Yorktown didn’t offer much in the “teach fencing” department, which was a shame. It was the only thing Hikaru really missed when he moved there. Aside from Ben, of course, but Ben was dancing among the stars with Captain Kirk and the _USS Enterprise_ for almost two years. Missing Ben had become the norm.

With the absence of fencing and the gaining of teaching jobs focused on gardening and English, Hikaru had gained a little weight. He wasn’t out of shape, per say. He could still chase Demora through the apartment, pick her up, and cover her face with kisses. He could still jog his entire way to the gym, workout, and go back home without feeling like he was going to pass out. But without fencing there was no need to continue the daily physical grind. He skipped gym days here and there and opted to take Demora out for meals instead. It was for the best.

It was at one of those meals that Hikaru began to feel that something was off. He couldn’t quite place why. The atmosphere of the traditional Japanese restaurant seemed perfectly normal. Yet, somehow, it was different.

Demora sat on his lap and fiddled with the chopsticks. Her mouth moved, words came out, but Hikaru didn’t fully comprehend them. His eyes roamed the restaurant, his focus entirely on spotting the differences between the norm and the strange. His brain circled nothing.

Their food came. Hikaru and Demora shared, as they always did. He put more focus on her then but his eyes still hovered around. Still, there was nothing unusual. He clung onto the uneasiness for only a moment longer, but Demora’s laughter and her bright smile made him let it go. He had more important things to worry about than phantom feelings that wouldn’t amount to any real life matters.

Hikaru paid and they left. Despite her growing size and her ability to walk, she wanted to be held. Hikaru allowed it, carrying the young girl through the crowd with ease. Demora kept talking. He let her.

“Excuse me,” a voice called. Hikaru didn’t think it was for him but he turned anyway. There was a man there, staring. His eyes were pure silver, like old, antique bullets free of rust. “Are you Hikaru Sulu?”

“Yes,” he said, “Who are you?”

“An old friend of your husband’s,” he said.

Without a pause, the man reached out and grabbed his arm. Hikaru tried to pull away, but it was too late. In the blink, they were out of Yorktown and somewhere Hikaru didn’t recognize. Somewhere brown and green.

The man let go and eased away, poised. Hikaru watched him for a moment, waiting for him to strike out. He didn’t. Hikaru glanced around then, his eyes taking in the brown ground, the rocks, the grass, the trees that were spaced, scarce.

“Daddy,” Demora whispered. Fear shook her voice. Hikaru tightened his arms around her.

“It’ll be okay, starlight,” he whispered back. He turned. The man was still there, standing on a rock ledge, his back turned towards them.

“Where are we?” Hikaru asked.

“Somewhere your husband is bound to find us,” the man answered. There was an echo to his voice. It was one he didn’t have in Yorktown. One Hikaru didn’t have. It rattled his chest, vibrated against his heart. Hikaru’s arms tightened around Demora’s small frame. He felt her fingers clench against his shirt.

“Why are you doing this?” Hikaru asked.

The man chuckled. For a moment, Hikaru thought that was the only answer he would get. Then the man turned, his silver eyes piercing through his own, staring into his soul. Never had a man, just by sight, peered through him – probed him – in such a manner. He felt so naked, so bare. Yet, he dared not turn his eyes away.

“I was at the helm when this little accident of mine happened,” the man said, that echoing voice now seeming to quake Hikaru’s being, despite the tone being calm, near pleasant, “Your husband, your… moonlight… he was off the bridge on one of his little jaunts through the arboretum. A little slice of you on our… _his_ … ship.”

The man paused. A smile flickered on his face, but faded just as quickly.

“The ship was attacked and I fell victim to this change because I was at the helm. The crew became afraid of me, much like you are now, and the Captain, dear James Tiberius Kirk, had me exiled because of my display of power.”

A scoff exited the man’s mouth as a coy, unpleasant smile touched his lips. He turned. Hikaru felt that naked feeling flick off.

“After all these years, all these missions, James Kirk threw me aside to make his crew feel more comfortable. I don’t blame him. I can’t. I know him. But Ben… dear Ben.”

He paused again. Those silver eyes flicked Hikaru’s way. The feeling was back again. There was more too it though. It wasn’t just that the man could see through him now. It was as if the man was pouring his essence into Hikaru, making him feel the anger, the rage, the pure bitterness that consumed his soul. Hikaru clenched Demora tighter. She made a noise, a small whimper, and he hoped it was only because of his hands, which he managed to loosen.

“ _He_  should have been at the helm, not daydreaming about you in a false field of flowers. And now, I’ll show him what a mistake he’s made.”

The man turned and stood on the rock facing again. Hikaru’s emotions cleared. He seemed empty at first, but his own sadness, confusion, concern quickly filled the cavern that the man left behind. He focused his attention on Demora, who began to sniffle and nearly bawled in his arms. It was all he could do to keep from crying himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Hikaru didn’t bother keeping track of how long they were on the planet. It wouldn’t have done any good. The man wasn’t going to let them leave no matter how much time passed. So Hikaru stood exactly where they had been teleported, with Demora snug in his arms. Aside from her sniffles and occasional shifts, the girl was silent. So was he. It didn’t make him feel safe.

Between comforting kisses on the crown of Demora’s head and glances towards the now stoic man, Hikaru rolled over the sentence, “I’ll show him what a mistake he’s made.” If the man had only intended to transport them to a foreign area without any risk of harm, he would have left them there alone. But the man was still here, staring, waiting. He intended to do something else. What that was, Hikaru wasn’t sure. He was sure, however, that it either meant the physical harm or death of himself, Demora, or even Ben, if his husband ever arrived. If they stayed, they were bound to find that out. Hikaru knew the only way to escape that fate was to run. He had to wait for an opening.

Finally, the man’s head tilted up. Hikaru glanced towards the sky, around where he assumed the man was staring. Nothing showed.

“You’re not the man I wanted to see, Jim,” the man said. The voice echoed against Hikaru’s chest again. He took a step back.

“I’m the one who came,” another man said. The voice came from out of view, under the ridge that the man stood, but Hikaru knew it was James Kirk. He’d met the captain before. Though the serious tone was new, the calmness and polite nature was still there, underlining the essence of his words.

“Go back to your ship and beam Ben down.”

“I’m not going to do that.”

Hikaru took a quiet step away from the man.

“Your refusal will only get you killed.”

“I’m willing to take the risk.”

Hikaru took another step. It was just as quiet as the first. But the moment his heel touched the ground, the man turned. Silver eyes glared.

“Stay in your _place_!” the man yelled, his voice seeming to rattle the trees, the rocks, the air. Hikaru froze. Demora clung to him and began to cry. Her wails didn’t ring like his yell did, but Hikaru felt it on his heart in the same way. He brought her as close as he could and kissed the crown of her head. He wanted to speak, to whisper, to comfort, but his works were cut off by a phaser blast.

Hikaru looked up. The man was looking back over the rock edge, away from him. Silence. Stillness. Even the air refused to breathe. Then the man’s arm raised, slow, easy. His hand was closed. When it opened, a phaser flew into it. The man examined the device.

“This could have killed me if I was human,” the man said. A pause. “I bet it would kill a child.”

The phaser was pointed back at them, along with those metallic eyes. Hikaru tried to leave, to drop Demora, to move in anyway, but his body wouldn’t. He willed, begged, pleaded, but something caught him, stilled him. It was the man. He intended to kill Demora while she was still in Hikaru’s arms.

“Gary, stop!” Jim yelled. A pause. The gun was still aimed their way. Hikaru could feel his heart beat through the tips of his fingers. It was the only way he knew his heart wasn’t pounding out of his chest. And Demora’s continued sobs told him that his little girl was still alive.

“The Gary I know wouldn’t kill anyone,” Jim said. Hikaru could see the sweep of blond hair peeking over the rock ledge.

“The Gary you know is dead,” the man said.

“Then why are you still calling me ‘Jim’?”

More of Jim started to appear. His forehead, his brow, his eyes, his face. Slow, easy steps brought him there, and then showed his shoulders, his chest, his stomach. All the while, those silver eyes never shifted, the phaser never strayed.

“Put down the phaser, Gary,” Jim said.

Hikaru tightened his hold on Demora. His fingers shook against her. But his eyes never strayed from those silver bullets that bore into him, trapped him, stilled him. Then Jim pounced. The silver streaked away. Hikaru felt it break contact. His body gave, his feet moved, and he took over. A thunderous roar echoed across the landscape. He didn’t look back. His feet pounded as fast as his heart, carrying him and Demora across the rocks and dirt and trees, past nothing but planetary life.

Suddenly streams of white and gold appeared before him. Two figures beaming down. They formed, became solid, and allowed the glow to vanish as quickly as it came. The figures were people Hikaru didn’t realize but their Starfleet uniforms told him enough. He ran to them. They called the ship – two to beam up, just Demora and Hikaru. Up they went, past the unfamiliar landscape, through the clouds, the atmosphere, unseen layers, and onto the _Enterprise_  without a problem. He blinked and waited for the man – Gary – to appear, for them to be back on the planet, for the _Enterprise_  to vanish as quickly as it came. It didn’t. They remained as two members of the medical staff flocked to them, scanners in hand.


	3. Chapter 3

Hikaru didn’t get to see Ben until they were in the medbay, and that was only after Jim Kirk returned to the ship. By then, Hikaru heard through whispers that Gary had died. He wasn’t sure how. He didn’t want to know.

Ben arrived in his command yellow uniform, looking as proper as the day he left for the five year mission. Hikaru had never been more happy to see him. They hugged. Ben gathered Demora and held her close. With the doctor’s permission, they left and traveled to Ben’s quarters. The journey was quiet. Hikaru could feel Ben’s tension the moment they left the medbay.

They entered Ben’s quarters. For a while, there was a false normalcy thrown around. Once Demora fell asleep, however, the normalcy fell into uneasy silence.

“It’s not your fault,” Hikaru said. Ben scoffed. He could see the disdain scrunch up the man’s nose.

“Of course it is,” Ben said, “If I had been at my post-”

“We never would have seen you again.”

“You both almost died by Gary Mitchell’s hands.”

“We didn’t.”

“But you could have!”

At his raised tone, Ben turned his head away. Hikaru glanced towards the bedroom, where Ben’s eyes had traveled to. Demora was still asleep, arms wrapped around the blanket like it was the teddy bear she had back home. Hikaru looked towards Ben again. His husband’s eyes never left Demora.

“I’m the member of Starfleet. Any of the risks should be directly towards me. You and Demora shouldn’t be involved.”

“I knew the risks when I married you, Ben,” Hikaru answered, “I’d be lying if I said I thought Demora and I would be in danger, but I knew what you being in Starfleet meant for us. If I was against it, I wouldn’t have married you.” He paused. A smile pulled at his lips. “Besides, this let us see each other again. And you were just talking about how much you’d like to hold me.”

“Hikaru-”

Hikaru stood, walked over, and sat next to Ben. He took one of Ben’s arms and put it around his own waist. Then he rested his head on Ben’s shoulder. Ben sighed. Hikaru felt the hot hair roll against his hair. Ben’s other arm wrapped around Hikaru’s waist on it’s own.


End file.
